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Divers Reportedly Find Body of Teen in Lake Lanier

Griffin Prince, 13, had been missing since last week's fatal boating collision on Lake Lanier.

 

Updated at 10:20 p.m.

The rescue efforts on Lake Lanier apparently have found the body of Griffin Prince, the Buford teen who had been missing since the recent boating collision on Lake Lanier.

In a press release, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources gave the details of the recovery on Wednesday evening. Officials said divers had recovered the body of Griffin Prince, 13, in about 113 feet of water in the Shoal Creek area on southern Lanier at approximately 6 p.m. on Wednesday.


The search had lasted nine days and involved more than 10 agencies and
organizations officials said. The incident began at about 10:30 p.m. on June 18 when a pontoon boat carrying the teen and 12 other people was hit by another
boat in Shoal Creek on Lake Lanier.. Griffin’s 9-year-old brother, Jake Prince of Buford, was also killed. 

The operator of the other boat - Paul J. Bennett, 44, of Cumming - was arrested by Wildlife Resources Division conservation rangers and charged with Boating Under the Influence.

“The first priority was closure for the family,” DNR Maj. Stephen Adams said in the release. "Now we can focus solely on the boating incident investigation.”

That investigation includes the Wildlife Resources Division’s Critical Incident Reconstruction Team as well as the Hall County District Attorney’s Office.

The search for the missing teen included divers and other personnel from agencies including Hall, Forsyth, Gwinnett and Cobb counties, the FBI, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Georgia State Patrol.


Related Topics: lake lanier fatality

STATE OF DENIAL

9:40 pm on Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Tragic end...................... :(

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Sharon Swanepoel

9:54 pm on Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Terribly sad story, but at least they can take him home. As time went on I was really worried they would not locate him.

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Michelle Lee

12:17 am on Thursday, June 28, 2012

Oh god...I actually went to school with him.
We never really talked, he seemed like a really good kid...
And not only did he die, his little brother died, too?
I hope the rest of the family is okay...

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Sharon Swanepoel

7:29 am on Thursday, June 28, 2012

Yes Michelle, a very sad story. There is one older brother who did survive but Griffin and a younger brother were both killed in the accident.

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Judy

9:27 am on Thursday, June 28, 2012

So sad!! The family can have closure now. My heart goes out to the family, words can near express how horrible this is.

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Lisa Carlan

9:32 am on Thursday, June 28, 2012

Friends of mine know this family and how relieved they are to be able to have both children now going to the Lord together....such a tragic and preventable loss......

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Michelle Still

4:26 pm on Saturday, June 30, 2012

How tragic this is,my aunt martha carnes lives on the lake lanier in hall county,seems so tragic that the other person was drinking and driving a boat,Never drink and drive anything,take care of each other. This is a warning to people speed driving and drinking!!!!

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